UK
College introduces revised council report on community health care
By The Royal College of Psychiatrists
Mar 3, 2005, 18:16

Community Mental Health Care is the title of the third edition of the College's policy on community care for people with mental health problems. It is produced at a time of unprecedented change, as the 'modernisation' teams prescribed in the NHS Plan are being introduced.

The multidisciplinary team that prepared the report chose to draw attention to 'good current practice', such as can already be found in different parts of the country and can serve as a model to aim for.

Whilst recognising the inevitability of many shifting government policy guidances (and indeed welcoming many of them), the report does nevertheless question and reject some.

This revision comes out at a time of intense change driven by the implementation of the NHS Plan and the activities of the Modernisation Agency and the National Institute for Mental health in England (NIMHE, 2003).

Given this, the College has opted to emphasise current practice and developments in the immediate future. This should not be read to indicate that the Royal College of Psychiatrists is resistant to change. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Chapter 1 of the report outlines the vital partnerships, in particular those beyond the multidisciplinary team.

Chapter 2 reviews the functioning of the sector-based community mental health team, which is identified as the backbone of the service, and observes the benefits that have occurred as a result of the advent of the modernisation teams.

Chapter 3 deals with the modernisation teams, acknowledging the variation of their development nationally and also the deviations from the prescribed models that have been developed within the context of staffing constraints.

Chapter 4 discusses the crucial issue of social care. The rapidly rising significance of social inclusion, and the move to combined health and social care trusts, have sharpened the focus on this area whilst reducing certainties.

Chapter 5 deals with the 'essential clinical partners' in community care - primary care, substance misuse services, rehabilitation and forensic services. General principles of collaboration and common configurations are addressed, rather than detailed prescriptions.

Chapter 6 focuses on the issues of local variation and diversity. Ethnic diversity challenges almost all urban services to ensure cultural sensitivity, and sometimes highly specific service configurations. Diversity includes the consistent differences found in all localities, as well as high local concentrations of specific groups.

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